


Kaleidoscope - Star Wars One-Shots

by Libby_25cSoda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Darth Vader's A+ parenting, ESB AU, Force Shenanigans (Star Wars), Gen, Jabba's Palace (Star Wars), One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, RotJ AU, Tatooine Slave Culture (Star Wars), kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29161515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Libby_25cSoda/pseuds/Libby_25cSoda
Summary: Another Star Wars one-shot collection, featuring mostly Dad Vader but also others as the mood strikes me. Mostly off one-word prompts for now but we'll see how it goes!Now playing: Powerful
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 43
Kudos: 123





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

> Table of contents

**2: Fresh**

A bit of homebrew Tatooine slave culture, a nice half-day between mother and son as Anakin makes bread for the first time.

**3: Reflection**

ESB AU, where Luke in the cave on Hoth finds something that changes his perspective on the galaxy and his place in it.

**4: Ancient**

Luke checks out a temple and finds something altogether different from what he was looking for. Vader finds _exactly_ what he was looking for.

**5: Home**

Mermaid au. Vader kidnaps Prince Luke Naberrie and brings him home to stay.

**6: Dragonfly**

Little vignette of the trio (Luke, Leia, and Han) on Naboo taking a break.

**7: Powerful**

ROTJ au. The rescue of Han goes sideways almost as soon as Luke shows up to play his part.


	2. Fresh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of homebrew Tatooine slave culture, a nice half-day between mother and son as Anakin makes bread for the first time.
> 
> Prompt from Inktober52 week 1 2021

“Alright. Now you can knead it.”

Anakin took to the bowl of dough with relish, squishing the sticky dough between his for-once-clean fingers before getting to work. It was soothing, working the mixture of water, salt, and off-world flour (cut with crushed japor bark to make up for the remaining palmful they couldn’t afford). He felt himself calming as he kneaded, almost meditative. The world, usually so loud in his head and hard to tune out, quieted. His mother worked around him, putting away the remaining salt for later and sweeping the floor clean of sand again - an endless task they took turns doing.

Twenty minutes later, both the dough and the fire were ready.

Anakin flattened the dough out into a disc and took it outside, where Shmi had spread hot coals over the desert sand, leaving a divot in the center that fit it perfectly. Together they swept the sand and coals over the dough, completely covering it.

A few minutes and it was time to flip it and re-bury it.

While it cooked, Anakin stared into the flickering coals, entranced by the dancing heat.

“Anakin,” his mother warned. He shook himself and grabbed the bread out of the scorching earth, dusting the sand from it. 

It was warm between his hands and he breathed in the scent a moment before breaking off a piece and handing it to Shmi. She took a bite, chewing thoughtfully, then ruffled his hair, smiling.

“Well done for your first time, my son.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by bark bread of the Sami people and taguella bread of Tuareg people living in the Sahara.


	3. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ESB AU, where Luke in the cave on Hoth finds something that changes his perspective on the galaxy and his place in it.
> 
> Prompt from Inktober52 week 3 2021

Luke stared at his reflection in the ice, watching it mirror his waving hand. He was entranced. The cold of the cave had been seeping into his clothes before, but the longer he stared at the mirror in the wall of ice, the less he noticed it. The injuries he’d gotten from the wampa had faded into the background of his consciousness along with his concerns about finding a way back to base before dark.

Absentmindedly, he took a step closer. When he did, faint whispers surrounded him, too indistinct to make anything of. This close, it was almost impossible to resist...

The moment his hand touched his reflection, the world  _ twisted _ , and he tried to shout out in pain but his lungs were twisted too and so were his limbs--

Luke collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, a hand going to his throat.

“My son, are you alright?” a worried, robotic voice said. Gloved hands gently grabbed his shoulders and--should he be able to feel them through all the layers he was wearing? “What happened?”

“What-- I don’t-- I don’t know,” he coughed, sucking in sweet oxygen. His head was spinning, even though it was pressed to a cool, smooth surface.

He finally caught his breath and looked up, only to stop breathing when he saw who loomed above him.

_ Darth Vader. _

How--why-- _ what? _

“No,” he gasped, scrambling away from the behemoth. “How did you--how did I--”

“What do you mean, young one? I have not done anything.” Vader sounded confused.

Luke looked down at himself and inhaled sharply. He was wearing  _ Imperial blacks. _ With a  _ Commander’s insignia. _

“I--I need a moment,” he managed, glancing around frantically for a refresher. His body seemed to know where to go when he didn’t think about it, and he closed the door behind him, breathing heavily.

Looking at himself in the mirror was strange. Gone were the claw marks on his face, the slight tan of his skin from weeks planetside. His hair was dark, his skin deathly pale and clear of blemishes, stark against the crisp black of his uniform. At his belt hung a lightsaber, but thumbing it on revealed a hissing red blade, the crystal screaming out in pain. He winced and turned it off.

Where was he? Why, for all the stars, was he an  _ Imp _ ? How did he  _ get here? _

_ What’s wrong, Luke? _ came into his head. It was smoother than Vader’s voice, less robotic, but still recognizable. He hurriedly threw up his shields.

What was  _ Vader _ , of all people, doing calling him  _ son _ and asking how he was?

\----------

Luke was on his way out of their rooms with his father when without warning the world  _ twisted _ and he couldn’t breathe.

An eternal heartbeat later, he collapsed in a snowbank, gasping, thick winter clothes restricting his movement. His face burned with open cuts, his entire body ached with bruises. He groaned in pain but quickly cut it off before his father could hear his weakness.

Speaking of his father, where  _ was _ he? He couldn’t even feel their bond; it left him adrift, the loneliness as aching as the bruises. Reaching out for it met nothing but open space and he let himself sigh. There was no one there to reprimand him for it.

Well. If he couldn’t find his father, he could at least figure out more about this planet.

He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the Force, his vision filling with the lights of lifeforms, most of them centered in one area fairly far from him. There were a few closer, but they didn’t seem like anything more than animals so he ignored them. On the cave floor was a lightsaber humming with peace - a  _ Jedi _ lightsaber; better than nothing, he supposed - and he pulled it towards him with the Force. Above the planet, a short distance off, was the dark sun of his father. Luke shied away from it.

He needed to figure out what happened before his father arrived. He’d be proud of his son’s efficiency and ability to work on his feet.

Luke started trudging towards the collection of lifeforms. It was going to be a long walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted on my tumblr back in January, now here! May eventually become something more, but likely not until the summer when I have time to start another longfic.


	4. Ancient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke checks out a temple and finds something altogether different from what he was looking for. Vader finds exactly what he was looking for.
> 
> Really just an expansion of my one-shot July, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote this! Prompt from Inktober52 week 4 2021.

Luke’s footsteps echoed loudly on the worn, tan stone floors. Dust motes floated through the light and air, making every breath taste of stagnation and  _ waiting. _ Or maybe that was just in the Force - the whole temple felt like it was holding its breath, the moment at once solid, unending, and utterly, utterly breakable. He almost wanted to hold his breath, too, but settled for holding his lightsaber loosely in his left hand.

Supposedly, he was on this planet to check out its merits as a potential Alliance base - like Yavin Four, it had a temple they could easily convert, plus colorful jungle plant life that would easily camouflage them from any drones, both visually and with infrared. Even better, there wasn’t supposed to be an Imperial presence. He had been chosen to visit this planet in particular because of the temple; as the resident Jedi, he should theoretically be able to see if there were any traps left by the last occupants, who had also been Force-users.

In actuality, he had been sidetracked by the lure of the temple itself, the possibility of finding information on these mysterious Force-users, something to help with his training. He wanted to see if there was another way, besides the Jedi, before going back to Yoda and his preachings of non-attachment.

And that once one had touched the Dark, they would never find the Light again.

Was he touched by Darkness, by virtue of who his father was? If so, did that mean...did that mean that he could never become a true Jedi? Was he doomed to be a Sith?

Unconsciously, he clenched his right fist. When he noticed, he released it and grimaced, forcing himself to focus on the here and now.

And right now there was…

His head snapped to the left, and he gave in, holding his breath for a heartbeat.

Right now there was something in the Force calling out to him, a faint siren song, and it was coming from down the hallway.

Luke followed it, the sound of his boots muffled by the thickening layer of dust as he left the main hallway for this enclosed passageway, the whisper of the Force in his ear. The feeling of  _ waiting _ that permeated the entire temple seemed to edge to a higher pitch, as if the energy of the temple was leaning forward in its seat. He forced himself to keep breathing normally, not stop even as the pressure built higher, higher as he got closer to wherever the whisper was leading him.

Finally, he reached a room after several twists and turns in the passageway, lit by thin slits high up in the wall. Immediately after, the moment was broken when the dust his footsteps kicked up made him sneeze, the sound startling him out of his reverie.

He blinked and looked around the room. Heart dropping, he realized it was...empty. Completely, and utterly. The feeling of anticipation burst apart like the dust he kicked up when he stopped.

On a stone pedestal in the middle of the chamber, there was a circle where the dust was thinner, but that was all. Clearly, whatever had been here was taken long ago.

He sighed. The whispers were just that; whispers. It was unlikely the rest of the temple had much more to offer.

Kicking some of the dust on the floor, he turned around and started back to the open part of the temple.

Maybe it was stupid to think there was some other, third way to be a Force-user, something besides Jedi or Sith, absolute light or absolute dark… Maybe he  _ should _ just go back to Yoda and apologize, complete his training and do it right this time.

First, though, he had to check out the rest of this area for use as a potential Alliance base.

Wandering through the temple hallways, he found nothing but more of the same; dust and empty shelves. Whoever had been here last, they clearly meant to leave. He dutifully noted important features on his datapad - barracks with indentations carved into the walls for bunks, several big open spaces that could be filled with their sensors or ships, pipes for running water that didn’t seem too damaged. Maybe the temple would be happy to have occupants again, insofar as a building could be happy.

When he crossed the threshold to exit, he was at last able to take a deep breath of the warm, humid air, beyond the reach of the breathless anticipation of the temple. He closed his eyes and savored the sunlight on his face for a moment, basking in the warmth and life of this planet. Space was so cold, after a lifetime on Tatooine, although most of the planets he’d visited since leaving had so many more lifeforms than he’d grown up with. He was still amazed at all the life one planet could hold.

Sighing, he began making his way back to his X-Wing.

Well, if nothing else, this mission was a success - he’d found a potential base, even if he didn't find anything that could help him. It would be nice to have a more permanent place to stay; since Yavin, they’d been moving bases every other month, afraid to stay too long in one place for fear of the Empire finding them. Here, they should be hidden enough to stay longer.

Luke was startled out of his musings by a tinny voice.

“Hey, stop right there!”

_ Stormtroopers. How did he not notice them? _

He clutched the datapad to his chest and ran, hoping he could get back to his ship before--he skidded, kicking up dirt, and scrambled to turn around before he ran smack into a group of troopers.

Nope, they’d already found and surrounded his ship.  _ Kriff. _

If he’d had Artoo with him, Artoo would’ve gotten the ship up and out of the way before the Imperials could take it. He supposed he should be grateful the astromech wasn’t there to get captured - it wasn’t like it was terribly likely he would’ve been able to escape the Imperials by himself even with Artoo, anyway.

Luke hissed in a breath and stumbled when a trooper got a lucky shot, cutting into his stomach, but kept running, determined not to give up. If they wanted him, they’d have to work for it.

He ran back into the temple, the world falling into a hush the moment he crossed the threshold, reduced to him, the dust, and the blood slowly oozing out of his chest.

\--------------

Ensconced in one of the bunkrooms deep in the temple, Luke used his pocket-vibroblade to rip his bright orange flight suit to shreds for a makeshift bandage. The snapping of threads echoed off the chill stone walls. It wasn’t the best, and nor was all the dust he was surrounded by, but it would hopefully be good enough until he could get off-planet. He’d shelter here long enough for the Imperials to drop their guard, then sneak back out and steal a ship if he couldn’t get to his X-Wing. Hopefully none of them had been able to recognize him and call reinforcements…

Mostly what he wanted was water. He was running low, and even lower since he’d used some of it to try to wash out his wound a bit. Thank the Force for years on Tatooine teaching him how to effectively conserve water, although those years also told him he wouldn’t be able to run around like this for long.

He wiped some of the sweat off his exposed arms and grimaced. Maybe a jungle planet wasn’t much better than Tatooine in terms of need for water. 

He stood.

Nothing for it. He’d have to take his chances sooner rather than later, then. Hopefully an hour, judging by his chrono, was enough time for the Imperials to get bored of looking for him.

He grimaced again.

Probably not. But he’d have to try.

\-----------

Luke crouched just beyond the clearing he’d landed his ship in, watching the white forms of the Stormtroopers mill about. He’d have to time it just right.

When the majority of them were turned away from him, he ran as quickly and lowly as he could towards his ship, weaving a suggestion in the Force around him of  _ There’s nothing here _ . None of them turned around until he was most of the way into his cockpit.

“Stop right there!” they shouted again, aiming their blasters at him.

He jumped all the way in and hit the button to close the canopy, beginning the start-up sequence. The engines fired, pushing a couple troopers that had been behind the ship to the ground, and then he was lifting off.

“R4, how we--”

He was cut off by a squeal from the astromech as it was hit, then exploded. Half the wing went, too, and Luke spiraled back down to the ground. There was no time to secure himself with the Force, and without crash webbing or a helmet—

His world exploded in pain as the ship sliced a divot in the jungle, throwing him around the cabin. Something sharp cut his head, and his right hand  _ crunched _ in a way that sent fire through the synthnerves and directly to his brain. He screamed.

Finally, the ship came to a stop against a tree and he fell back into his seat, groaning.

_ Real smart, Skywalker, not even bothering to put your helmet on before taking off. _

He let himself rest for a moment, let his stomach settle and vision stop spinning, then he pushed up the canopy and practically fell out of the ship, landing in a pile of loose dirt and rocks. Standing and glancing around, he didn’t spot any Stormtroopers. Perfect. At least their bright-white armor helped them stand out in this colorful jungle, and for once his garish orange flight suit did him a favor.

With one more glance behind him, Luke began pushing his way into the jungle. Hopefully they’d see the ship and think he didn’t make it, or better yet not see it at all.

He’d been limping as fast as he could through the foliage for maybe an hour when he felt a dark sun eclipse the brightness of the Force, and he froze.

_ No… _

Hurriedly, he threw up shields and spread his presence thin, praying it would be enough for his signature to blend in among the many lifeforms on this planet. It seemed to work well enough; he could feel Vader sweep the area, but he didn’t stop on Luke. Not yet.

Luke couldn’t keep this up for long, though. His heart beat quickly, every beat in his ears a reminder of time running out as he crouched under an overhang of rocks. The Force sang in his blood along with adrenaline as he tried to bury himself in the signatures of countless other lifeforms. The humid jungle air didn’t seem to be doing its job of filling his lungs, or maybe that was the panic.

_ This planet was supposed to be uninhabited, a potential Alliance base, not an Imperial-occupied planet! Where did the Stormtroopers even come from? _

There must’ve been a garrison somewhere nearby that the Alliance scouts missed somehow, it was the only explanation.

But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was the fact that Vader had finally noticed him, and was pressing on his shields. He strengthened them, but focus bled out with every heartbeat.

The blaster wound across his chest was bleeding, and so was the cut on his head. Both were covered in rocks and dirt from his fall, blood staining his hasty bandages red to match the setting sun. His prosthetic was still screaming at him, too mangled for him to access the switch to turn off sensory input.

Over his loud breaths and the thudding in his ears, the sound of his father’s respirator approached and he tensed, speaking out his signature further for all the good it would do. His father would find him no matter what he did at this point.

Vader’s dark form, backlit by orange clouds dashed in red like the band across Luke's chest, appeared out of the foliage. His skeletal helmet snapped to Luke, and he closed his eyes, a childish impulse:  _ If I can’t see you, you can’t see me. _ Of course, it did nothing to stop Vader.

His harsh breaths slowed against his will.

_ Sleep, my son. _

He collapsed, and the world fell into darkness.

  
  
  


Time flowed around him, without meaning or end. His eyes were too heavy to open, but he could feel his wounds exposed to the air, the tugging as someone presumably dug out the rocks and dirt from his fall. He heard more than felt as someone else fiddled with his prosthetic. The metal of the table beneath him and the binders on his wrists and legs holding him down were cold. Antiseptic stung his nose. Surprisingly, there was no pain, but nonetheless he felt like a bantha laid out for slaughter, a womp rat pinned down for dissection, helpless to whatever his captors decided to do with him.

His mind, too, felt exposed, pinned down under lights to be carefully examined. Memories drifted almost at random, endless sunny days on Tatooine - playing in the canyons with Biggs, learning to pilot, fixing vaporators with Uncle Owen, learning to sew with Aunt Beru in the evenings, watching the suns set and hoping his father was out there waiting for him - mixing with days with the Rebellion - playing sabacc with Han and Chewie, flying and hanging out with the Rogues, late night talks with Leia, heart-pounding battles. Here, too, he could feel subtle tugging and careful examination, from the dark sun of his father, drinking in everything about Luke he could find. Luke couldn’t do anything to stop him sifting through his memories, just watched them play out without his permission.

He drifted from the old memories to a more recent one: Now his mission truly was a failure. Not only did he fail to report back to the Alliance, but he didn’t find anything on how non-Jedi, non-Sith Force users may have operated…

The thought was stolen from him, swept away in the current of Vader pulling out his memories one by one, but the sorrow remained. 

Tears flowed down his face. Eventually, his father noticed he was aware, and sent waves of peace. He gratefully reached out and clung to them, and let them pull him under again.

  
  
  


When he came to a second time, the air was sweet and artificial, stale in a way altogether different from the dusty air of the temple. He felt the still-stinging wounds of his put-back-together body and mind. His entire being ached.

The surface beneath him was hard and unbending, but somehow it wasn’t cold. He shifted slightly, a small noise of discomfort escaping him at the motion, and realized he was wrapped in a blanket, on his side, with a pillow under his cheek. He cracked open an eye.

Blurry sight revealed stark-white walls bisected with black lines the shape of teeth, and panels of softly glowing buttons. The lights seemed to be dimmed, which he was grateful for.

Where was this place? It wasn’t like any med-facility he’d ever seen...

When he reached out in the Force for some sense of his surroundings, someone reached back. Waves of  _ peace, security _ washed over him, soothing and cool. He sighed an exhale as more images began playing across his mind, still achingly open from earlier. If they were memories, this time they were not his own.

A man and a woman embracing, whispering to each other in the dark, smiles on both their faces. “ _ This is the happiest moment of my life, _ ” he heard as if from a distance. The voice sounded like a lullaby. The woman and man took each other’s hands - the man’s was a prosthetic, he noted - and went into a bedroom, the door closing behind them.

_ Rest, now. _

He slept.

  
  
  


Vader observed his son lying on the floor at his feet, savoring the feel of the hyper-oxygenated air of his meditation pod on his bare face.

At last, his son was by his side, safe on the  _ Executor _ . He had even had the opportunity, while the boy was in surgery, to sift through some of his memories, find out more about the child he had never gotten to raise than any spies could ever tell him.

Luke was curious, most curious. It had been the will of the Force that he found his son alone on that jungle planet - or, rather, that the Stormtroopers stationed there were intelligent enough to comm Piett directly, who alerted him. Even more fortunate was the fact that the boy was too exhausted to fight him, although a pity that he had been so injured. Curious, though, was the fact that the troopers reported to him that his son had spent a significant amount of time in the abandoned temple.

Even curiouser, was that Luke didn’t seem to have been looking for remnants of Jedi.

Of course, the boy was still resistant to the idea of becoming a Sith; he’d certainly made that clear when he jumped off the gantry on Bespin, and in making efforts to avoid his father since. But the fact that he was questioning the Jedi way meant Vader had a foothold, a way forward with his son.

Luke shifted and moaned quietly, coming awake. Vader felt his slow confusion as to where he was, and when his son reached out in the Force, he reached back. He couldn’t promise his son safety, but he could give him  _ security, peace, _ and assurance that he had been wanted. He felt Luke be soothed, and sent the boy back to the depths of sleep.

Yes, he may have an opportunity to know his son after all, and together they would overthrow Palpatine and rule the galaxy as father and son…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop a comment if you enjoyed! They make my day and inspire me to keep writing :)


	5. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mermaid au. Vader kidnaps Prince Luke Naberrie and brings him home to stay.
> 
> Prompt from Inkotber 52 2021 week 2

The sea-witch Vader had been watching Prince Luke Naberrie ever since he’d first learned of the boy’s existence, but not until he turned sixteen was he ever alone enough for Vader to strike.

He had been forced to watch his child grow up from afar, kept apart by the kingdom’s...distrust, of those who took the title  _ witch _ , and his own wish to avoid reminders of his dead wife. Luckily, no one knew he used to be Prince Consort Anakin, and there was no chance anyone would ever hang around him long enough to find out.

True, turning to dark magicks hadn’t saved his wife, but it had enabled him to overpower and kill the man who stole her life-force; the previous sea-witch, Sidious.

And he’d had much time to learn since then.

Unfortunately, this distance from the kingdom meant he didn’t learn of Luke Naberrie until the boy was several years old. By then, many thought Anakin dead, and he was known as Vader the sea-witch. None would have allowed him into the palace, much less to reclaim his son.

He had done too much in their eyes, stolen too many men, women, and children. He had drained their life-forces in attempts to bring his wife back, although he’d yet to succeed.

The moment he learned of his son’s survival, he finally had something else to live for. He began planning. 

It had taken years to build up a persona in the human world, enough to buy a house and learn their ways, but it had been time well worth spending. He continued working on a way to bring back Padmé by night. Unfortunately, the long years had only brought success in one of these endeavors, but at long last he was ready to reclaim his son. At long last he could finish raising him, far from the merpeople that had allowed his wife and mother to die, far from the painful memories of their deaths. At long last he could have at least a piece of his wife and the life they meant to build together back.

Vader waited behind a rock formation, tail waving slightly in the same current that waved the seaweed clinging to the rock. Swimming a short distance away was the Prince of Naboo, his short golden hair streaming behind him, strong blue tail propelling him through the water confidently. He was perfect, his son; so like his father in looks, but he carried himself like his mother.

The boy drew near and Vader set aside his musings, gathering his power to strike.

The moment Prince Luke was in range, he ensnared the child in ropes of energy. The boy lashed out and shouted as the shimmering red lines constricted his limbs, pinning his arms to his side and wrapping around his tail. Trashing, he tried to pull away, but was swiftly silenced by a sleeping spell. He fell limp.

He drifted peacefully into Vader’s arms, and the witch flicked his powerful tail to bring them closer to the surface.

He let the waves wash them up on a small beach concealed by large rocks, not too far from his house. 

Leaving his son partially submerged so he could breathe, Vader performed the spell that turned himself human. Sharp prickles consumed the lower end of his body and around the gills on his neck as the transformation took hold, turning his tail to legs and gills to simple skin, lungs primed for air instead of water. It was painful, but not so much he couldn’t ignore it, especially after years of switching back and forth. Just beyond the waves, he had left a set of clothes for himself, and he climbed out of the water onto the warm sand to retrieve them.

Once dressed, he returned to his son and performed the same spell. It took effect immediately. The boy awoke, crying out and writhing as his tail split, forming into two human legs, smacking the water with first his fin and then, once transformed, his feet. His gills smoothed down into skin as his lungs shifted to breathe air. Tears shone in his eyes. A wave washed water into his mouth, making his gasp and cough.

Uncaring that it soaked his pants, Vader knelt in the water and pulled his child into his lap. Luke clung to him on instinct, fists twisting in the fabric of his father’s shirt and dampening it, tears streaming down his face as he cried. Vader just held him, patiently waiting for the tears to subside and allowing his son to adjust to the air. Eventually, the boy tired and calmed somewhat, still hiccuping every few minutes.

He stood, his son in his arms, and began walking across the beach, leaving footprints in the wet sand that were washed away with every wave. Exhausted and likely confused and in pain, Luke just leaned his head on Vader’s shoulder, silent tears soaking his shirt as he shivered.

Vader’s cottage was about a quarter-hour’s walk from the ocean; close enough that it could be seen out the windows, but far enough to be well out of danger from the daily tides. As he pushed open the door - he’d left it unlocked, knowing his arms would be full with Luke when he returned - the Prince finally broke his silence.

“Where are you—” he coughed, voice unused to working above water. The boy tried again. “What the kriff did you do to me?”

Vader waited to set the boy on the couch and cover him with a blanket before answering. “I have made you human, little prince.”

His son curled up, clutching the blanket close to him and squeezing his eyes shut. “Why?” he croaked.

“I brought you home, Luke.”

He shifted and stared at Vader with those piercing blue eyes. Gods, they reminded him of Padmé even more up close, unobscured by water. It was almost too much to bear - almost. His son was a reminder of his angel he would always hold close and treasure.

“You were in danger, young one. I had to remove you from the situation. And besides, sons belong with their fathers, don’t they?”

He turned away to gather the clothes he bought for Luke, but felt the boy’s shock through the bond that snapped into place when he revealed the truth. He smiled.

Returning to Luke, Vader held the clothes out and said, “Do you know how to put these on or do you require assistance?”

Luke unearthed one hand from the thick blanket and reached out, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. Tear tracks glimmered in his cheeks and his wet hair was plastered to his forehead. After a moment, he asked, “What--what danger? And what do you mean you’re my father, he’s  _ dead. _ ”

“I did not die, little prince. I left, thinking you dead with your mother. By the time I realized you lived, it was too late. The kingdom knew me by a different name, a different reputation. They would have never let me reclaim you.”

“But couldn’t you just explain? I’m sure—”

“No,” Vader said shortly. “But it matters not. You’re here with me now, and that is all that I care about. You’ve had a long day, my son. Why don’t you get dressed, and then we’ll go eat?”

“Alright. I...I think I can figure the clothes out.” Luke pulled them out of his hands.

“Very well. Call for me if you need assistance; I will just be in the next room. I find the transformation often makes me hungry, and I’m sure you are as well.”

He busied himself putting water in the kettle to boil and soup on the stove to heat. 

A crash came from the adjacent room, along with a shout from Luke. Vader rushed back in, leaving the soup container on the counter.

“Luke?” he asked, pushing the door open. The boy, out of sight, groaned in response.

Vader came around the corner and saw him on the ground, wearing the sweatpants he’d left with him. He gently pulled the boy to a sitting position. 

“Are you alright? What happened?”

“My legs,” Luke panted, “they can’t hold me up. I thought that’s what legs  _ did _ , but it  _ hurt! _ ” More tears glittered in his eyes.

“Hush,” he soothed, tugging the boy gently until he leaned against him.

After a few moments, he scooped Luke up. The boy squeaked in surprise, and clung to him when he leaned over to grab Luke’s shirt off the couch. Luke marveled at the cottage as they walked into the kitchen and Vader set him down in a chair. Likely it was overwhelming, to not only be in such a new environment but also practically a new body.

No matter. He would get used to it in time.

Now that Luke was settled in one place, he seemed better able to gather his thoughts. “Why did you just take me out of the ocean without even asking me? Or telling the other Naberries? You just  _ stole _ me and turned me human without my consent. What could I be in danger from, anyway?”

“Put your shirt on,” was all he answered, tossing it at his son. Luke frowned, but did as asked.

He struggled with the shirt for a moment, his head stuck. Vader helped him pull it down, then crossed to the stove to put some soup in a bowl. “Eat, and then I will explain a little more. You must be hungry after your transformation.”

“No. What’s the danger? If you’ve taken me so far from home, I deserve to know.”

Luke reminded him so much of Padme in that moment, it both warmed and pierced his heart. His son was determined, like his mother, and would not be deterred. He remembered Padme hovering tall in the Council chamber, her beautiful red tail fanning the water to keep her in place, demanding important issues not be put aside until they were properly dealt with. She had never looked more beautiful than with that fire in her eyes. And it seemed their son was just like her.

He would just have to ensure that he didn’t let the boy push him around too much.

“The Opensea Raiders were planning another attack on the kingdom, and there were specific threats against you, my son,” he said carefully. Luke gasped. “It was not safe for you anymore.”

“The  _ Raiders _ are planning another attack? We have to go back! You have to help! The rest of my family—”

“Will be fine,” he interrupted. “I will go back during part of the days and nights to help, but you must stay here for your own protection. Unless you know how to fight?”

Luke slumped in his seat. “No…”

Vader put the bowl of soup in front of the boy. “Then you will simply have to adjust to being surface-side, my son.”

The boy looked questioningly at the bowl, the spoon sticking out of it, and lifted it to his lips to drink. Vader laughed and gently pulled it back down to the table. Of course, his son would not know how to use the dishes - merpeople, after all, had no need for them. It was another thing he would get to teach his son. 

His heart warmed in his chest. So much of Luke’s childhood lost, but there was still much to learn as a teenager.

“Like this,” he said gently, modeling how to hold the spoon. “Then you bring it up to your mouth, see? Now you try.”

Luke took a bite and his face lit up. “Wow! I didn’t know liquid could be warm! And so  _ flavorful! _ ” He dug into the bowl until it was empty, then put his head down on his folded arms. “Now I’m warm on the inside, like the soup.”

Vader laughed again. “And tired, I see. Would you like me to show you your room?”

“Yes please,” he said, lifting his head and pushing the chair away from the table. He frowned down at his feet, then back at his father. “Wait. But my legs don’t work.”

“They don’t need to, my son, not when I am here to carry you.” He scooped his child up, one hand under his legs and the other under his back. The boy was not heavy; Vader had had many years to get used to life on land, to make this body strong, and life underwater had not lent his son opportunity for much body fat, even as a prince.

Luke settled into his father’s arms and observed the cottage as he was carried through it. The walls in the main room were blue, and decorated with all sorts of nets and shells, dried sea stars and sand dollars. The boy’s room was seafoam green, and a window with bleached-white wood let the setting sunlight stream in through the white curtains. A white wicker desk with a matching chair sat in the corner.

“They’ll really be okay?”

“I promise. It is safer for you here.”

“You’re really my father?” he asked again.

“Yes, Luke. If you’d like, I can tell you stories about your mother once you’re in bed.”

He perked up at that. “Oh, please! Grandmother doesn’t like to talk about her after you got married, I want to know what she was like after her childhood.”

Vader used a bit of his magic to pull the blankets back before he set his son down on the soft mattress. Luke nuzzled into the blankets when they were pulled to his chin and looked at his father expectantly.

He pulled the desk chair over to his son’s bedside. “We met when we were very young; I was nine, and she fourteen. I had just been inducted into the Order, forced to leave my home and mother behind to learn to hone my magic skills. Unlike most of the initiates, I had not been raised in the Order. She was one of the first people to befriend me.”

Luke was entranced, wide-eyed. “When did you get married?”

“Your grandmother didn’t like me that much,” Vader said wryly, smirking, “so we went behind her back. We were married here, on the surface, as humans.”

“Was it hard?”

“Was what hard?” There was nothing in the world that could have kept him from marrying his angel, family approval be damned. It was the easiest decision he had ever made.

“Going against the family. Turning human. How did you walk?” Luke’s brows were furrowed, confusion written all over his face.

Vader didn’t answer for a moment, just stroked his son’s hair, still damp from the water. He would have to see about getting him a bath soon, get the salt off his skin.

“Father?” Luke asked, drawing him out of his musings.

“It was difficult,” he lied, “very painful. But we practiced, and learned, and after much time we could do it as well as any human. It took some months to build up the muscles, so we had to wait to get married.”

“Oh,” his son said, sinking into the mattress, disappointed.

Truly, it had not been difficult. As a matter of fact, it had only taken about a day; it had taken some adjustment, but the transformation spell made it possible. The sooner one started walking around, the better, while the magic was still in their muscles.

But he couldn’t have his son get away from him. The boy would surely go right back to the ocean and find someone to turn him back, find out there was no attack, or wander into the human world and find a way to get injured or lost. 

No, it was not worth the risk. 

He could take his son anywhere he wanted to go, show him the human world he was to live in now safely. In time, perhaps, when the boy could be trusted to come back to him he would teach him, but not now.

“You are tired, my son. Why don’t you sleep? You’ve had a long day, and we have all the time in the world for stories.”

Luke yawned, as if to prove his point, and Vader smiled, stroking his hair again.

“Father?” he said sleepily.

“Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re not dead.” Luke closed his eyes.

Vader kissed his forehead. “I am glad that you are not, either, little prince.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to the wonderful SpellCleaver for beta-ing this! You're amazing
> 
> Will I continue this? Maaaaybeeeee...eventually. Rn I'm struggling with An Unintended Side Effect (and lots of homework) so this is another project that will be shelved for the summer or whenever I next happen to have real time, although there is something of a plot written out (also with the help/input of SpellCleaver). If you enjoyed, leave a comment! They make my day :)


	6. Dragonfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little vignette of the trio (Luke, Leia, and Han) on Naboo taking a break.
> 
> Prompt "Dragonfly" from Inktober52 2021 week 7

Luke stood calf-deep in the lake, bare feet on the slick mud at the bottom, staring in awe at all the water. Only one sun graced the blue sky, illuminating the few fluffy clouds adrift in it. The top of his head was warm, but his legs were cool, the water only disturbed by the movements of someone coming out to join him.

Leia stood beside him, her pants similarly rolled up to not get wet, and smiled. “You like it?”

“It’s _beautiful_. I can’t believe how much _water_ some planets have!”

“Wait until you see the waterfall, desert boy,” she teased. “Naboo’s got a lot more water than this.”

“You think _this_ is a lot of water? Just wait until we get to an _ocean_ planet, kid,” Han shouted from the shore.

Luke took a breath to reply, but was distracted by a buzzing noise near his ears. He spun in a circle, searching for the source. Light glinted off something, drawing his eye. There! He took a step closer to it, slimy mud squelching between his toes.

It was a small creature with four wings and a long body, skimming the water.

“Hey Leia, what is that?”

“What?” she asked, joining him. She put her hands on her knees and bent to look at it. It seemed to look back with its multi-faceted, shining green eyes. “Oh, that’s a dragonfly. See, look, there’s another.” She pointed towards the shore, near Han.

“What are you two looking at? My beautiful face?”

Luke blushed.

“No, nerfherder, I’m showing Luke the dragonflies!” Leia shouted.

“I think I’m more interesting than any wildlife—”

“You would, you stuck up—”

Luke tuned them out, and centered himself in the Force. The planet lit up with the light of all the many lifeforms - Leia and Han brightest, as they were close to him, but there were little lights under the mud, and fish swimming in the water, and hovering just above the lake were the dragonflies. He let out a breath, awed. There had to be ten of them, at least, and likely more beyond the area of the water they were standing in.

It was so beautiful. There wasn’t anything like this anywhere on Tatooine; there wasn’t nearly enough water to support so much life. And most of the life it _did_ support were likely to kill you. He didn’t sense any danger from the little creatures, or even the small fish swimming around his ankles.

“It is beautiful,” Leia said, laying a hand on his shoulder and drawing him back to his body.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’m glad we got to come here.”

“We all deserve a break after months of fighting the Empire, and you haven’t even been off Tatooine for a year. I’m glad we were able to get around Imperial security to come here.”

“They wouldn’t exactly expect Rebels on the Emperor’s homeworld.”

Leia smiled. “Especially not vacationing. Come on, Han claims to have made something good for lunch.”

“More like Chewie made it and he’s taking the credit.”

She laughed, and Luke joined in. They made their way back to shore, Luke scooping up his shoes and socks and walking barefoot on the grass.

For all the hardship and pain and struggle, sometimes, being a Rebel was the best thing in all the galaxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop a comment if you enjoyed! They make my day :)


	7. Powerful - Jabba's Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ROTJ au. The rescue of Han goes sideways almost as soon as Luke shows up to play his part.
> 
> Prompt from Inktober52 2021 day 9 "Powerful", but also I wanted to write something with Force-suppressing cuffs so here we are :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this?? Another one-shot, a mere three days after the previous one? I wrote this in one day lol, and very nearly in one sitting. And now I go back to focusing on AUSE
> 
> Some of the dialogue in the beginning of this fic is from ROTJ, so if you recognize it it's that. The rest is my own writing.

Luke serenely followed behind Bib Fortuna into Jabba’s throne room. The Twi’lek had been unsurprisingly easy to mind-trick; the gangster wasn’t known for keeping the strongest-minded people around him. In fact, most of those who weren’t slaves had to be paid for their loyalty.

As Bib Fortuna approached Jabba, Luke took in the room. Threepio, beside the gangster exclaimed, “At last! Master Luke’s come to rescue me!” Unexpectedly, Leia was laid out in front of Jabba, dressed in a slave dancer’s outfit. The sight made Luke’s blood boil, and he could feel in the Force that Leia was even angrier than him.

Glancing around, he noted that while Lando was standing against the wall as planned, Han was nowhere to be seen. That wasn’t good. It would have been best if they were all in the same room, but he could work with that…

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Jabba replying to Bib Fortuna.

“ _I told you not to admit him,_ ” the gangster said in Huttese.

“I must be allowed to speak,” Luke said.

“ _He must be allowed to speak,_ ” Bib repeated.

Jabba exploded in rage, hitting Bib away from him. “ _You weak-minded fool! He’s using an old Jedi mind trick._ ”

Luke gathered the Force and looked Jabba in the eye, urging compulsion with his words. “You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookie to me.”

Jabba laughed, the sound echoing through the chamber and waking those draped about the room who had been sleeping. 

“ _Your mind powers will not work on me, boy._ ”

It was worth a try. He straightened and spoke without the Force. “Nevertheless, I’m taking Captain Solo and his friends. You can either profit by this, or be destroyed. It’s your choice. But I warn you not to underestimate my powers.”

“ _There will be no bargain with you, young Jedi._ ”

“Master Luke, look—” Threepio exclaimed, but Luke sensed the bounty hunter behind him.

He reached out, and a pistol jumped out of a guard’s holster towards him. Before it reached his hand, the bounty hunter snagged his wrists and turned him around roughly, clicking binders shut. 

The moment they closed on his wrists, Luke gasped and collapsed to his knees, suddenly empty and half-blind. The pistol clattered on the floor, the ringing echoing in Luke’s ears along with Jabba’s laughter.

He couldn’t—he couldn’t feel the Force. In one moment, the galaxy went from being filled with life, light, emotions, and warnings, the tightly-closed bond to his father, to just him. It was dull, lifeless. The world ended at his skin.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to process it. He couldn’t even bring himself to care that he was leaning on the bounty hunter that had snapped the binders on his wrists; unable to feel their lifeforce, he might as well have been leaning on a statue.

Even as a child, he’d never been without the Force. It was like losing a limb, again. He felt sick.

“ _The bounty on your head, Skywalker, is enough to buy a small planet. I’m sure Lord Vader looks forward to having you in his grasp,_ ” Jabba laughed.

 _Vader_.

Luke’s eyes flew open, and he shook off the shock of seeing a room filled with more beings than just Jabba. He hadn’t realized how much he had come to rely on the Force, to be able to forget how many were in the room just because he couldn’t feel them. Yoda would probably hit him in the shins for such stupidity.

“ _Put him in the dungeon and comm Lord Vader immediately._ ”

“No!” Leia shouted, leaning forward. She was yanked back by her chain and forced to lean against Jabba. She grimaced, eyes still locked on Luke.

As the bounty hunter hauled him upright, his mind spun.

He couldn’t allow himself to be taken to his father; he still needed to rescue Han, still had to go back to Yoda and finish his training. He wasn’t ready. And Leia needed help, too, or at least a distraction in order to escape.

Closing his eyes again, he went through the motions of centering himself as Yoda had taught him, _reaching_ beyond the Force-suppressant binders for any scrap of Force he could grasp. It was in his blood, surely a mere pair of binders couldn’t…

Finally, he managed to touch the Force. He threw everything he had into shoving the bounty hunter away from him and leaping to the most open space he could find. He landed half-kneeling near the middle of the throne room, breathing heavily.

 _Force,_ even such a simple maneuver felt like lifting a Star Destroyer.

Just as he caught his breath, several hands grabbed his arms. He thrashed weakly, to no avail. He’d drained his energy with that one move. They dragged him back to Jabba.

“ _If Lord Vader wasn’t paying so much, Jedi, I would enjoy keeping you as a fighter. Pity._ ” Addressing Bib Fortuna, the Hutt said, “ _Chain him to the wall where Solo was._ ”

Luke closed his eyes and tried to sink into the Force again, but one of the bounty hunters holding his arms shook him, startling him out of his focus. The only reward for his efforts was blood dripping out of his nose.

They cuffed his wrists again with a second set of binders, thinner than the first, attached to a stake in the wall and shoved him to his knees. He stared down morosely at the two sets of binders as blood landed on his pants, almost blending in with the dark fabric. Behind him, Bib Fortuna made a comm call, presumably to Vader.

His father would be here soon.

He had no doubts that his father would drop everything and race to Tatooine as fast as possible to retrieve him; he’d certainly never stopped trying to reach out to Luke every time Luke let his shields slip even slightly. At most, it would be a day before he reached the desert planet.

And Luke wouldn’t be able to tell Vader had arrived until far too late.

He lifted his head and looked at Leia, who gazed at him steadily, her expression hard and determined.

He turned away.

She didn’t know who he was, who _his father_ was. He’d never told anyone, putting it off and throwing himself into every mission the Rebellion sent him on as soon as he was cleared, focusing on rescuing Han when he wasn’t on missions. He had been waiting to go back to Yoda and get confirmation from him and Ben, but...now it looked like he’d have to settle for getting it from the man himself.

It didn’t matter.

The Force had been clear enough on Bespin, crowing, ecstatic that at last father and son had been reunited. It sung with _truth, truth, truth,_ much as Luke had ached to deny it.

“The boy was to be _unharmed,_ ” Vader seethed, voice crackly over the comm as it rang through the room. Luke winced, then grimaced when blood got into his mouth. He didn’t need the Force to know his father was _pissed._

Right. Vader kept a close watch on their bond at all times. Luke being cut off from the Force so suddenly probably felt like he had died.

“ _Come see for yourself, Lord Vader. And bring my payment,_ ” Jabba cut in, a grin on his face. Luke shuddered and turned away.

It was not going to be pretty when Vader showed up. If Vrogas Vas was any indication, he’d cut down everyone in the throne room just for being around Luke. He’d have to find a way to make sure Leia and Lando got out, and find Han.

He looked over at Leia again. She was still watching him.

Centering himself, he sunk into the Force again with difficulty, like trying to sink through thick mud. He wrinkled his brow as he worked the lock of the collar around Leia’s throat, gently so that Jabba hopefully wouldn’t notice. More blood dripped out of his nose. She startled when it unlocked, then nodded at him.

“ _Go,_ ” he mouthed. She shook her head, pursing her lips. He gave her a pleading look. “ _Please. I’ve got this._ ”

Concentrating, he unlocked the second set of binders on his own wrists, then leaned against the wall, panting from the effort. He closed his eyes.

His head _really_ hurt, and he was starting to get dizzy. His mouth tasted of copper. He wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve, but more kept coming.

Okay. No more trying to use the Force until either his nose stopped bleeding and his head stopped pounding, or he got these blasted binders off.

Footsteps approached him, and someone pressed a cloth to his bloody face. He blinked up at them in surprise, then realized it was Lando. Luke lifted his bound hands to hold the cloth up himself and Lando nodded once before stepping away.

“ _Now, back to our entertainment,_ ” Jabba said. Music started up, and dancers ran into the room, chains clinking.

Luke leaned against the wall and waited for an opportunity to present itself.

\---------

He was startled awake by shouting and blaster shots.

Luke groggily opened his eyes, not bothering to sit up, and blinked confusedly at all the beings in the room. Where had they come from? He didn’t sense any of them, only his own pounding headache.

Sitting up jostled the chain keeping him near the wall and—right. Force-suppressant cuffs.

He shook off the second set of binders, still unlocked from earlier, and stood, swaying.

“Lando, get Luke!”

Leia.

Lando reached him and grabbed his arm before he located her, but he saw her a moment later. Leia was behind Jabba, the chain from her collar wrapped around his throat. His tongue bulged out grossly as she threw her whole body into pulling the chain taut, choking him. 

“Come on, we gotta go,” Lando said, firing at one of the bounty hunters trying to approach them. He pulled Luke into walking, then let go. “Leia will follow in a moment.”

“What about Han?”

Lando grimaced behind his guard’s mask. “We’ll have to try again later. Vader’s on his way.”

Luke’s stomach dropped.

How close was he?

He wished he could use the Force to check, but he didn’t want to see what would happen if he strained himself to open the binders and then had it all rush back into him. He couldn’t afford to pass out with Vader on the way.

His question was answered anyway just before he and Lando reached the stairs. The _kshhh, koshhh_ of Vader’s breathing was unmistakable.

“Luke,” he said, obvious relief in his modulated voice.

Luke tensed up. _Not here, please, not here…_

Thankfully, he didn’t say anything about Luke being his son, although he did lay a gentle hand on his cheek and ask, “What did they do to you?” with the promise of murder in his voice.

Luke was saved from answering by Lando jumping to his defense. “What’s it to you, Vader? You’ll just torture him anyway, like you did to Han.”

Vader let his hand drop and turned to him. “Calrissian. I seem to recall you giving Solo up quite easily; I suggest you do the same with Skywalker.”

A blaster bolt nearly embedded itself in Luke, stopped at the last minute by Vader’s hand, reminding him of their current situation.

“Maybe this can wait?” Luke suggested.

Vader’s helmet tilted down to look at Luke’s hands. “Are those Force-suppressant cuffs, young one?”

“Yeah, but—” He cut off with a gasp as the Force flooded back into him and the binders fell off his wrists.

Suddenly the galaxy was full of light and life again, and it was overwhelming. There were so many beings in the throne room, plus those throughout the whole complex… To make it worse, he felt the deaths of each thug Leia shot with her acquired blaster like a shot to his own chest. Vader alone was overwhelming, a tightly leashed dark storm of anger and - was that...worry? - right next to him. It would have brought him to his knees had his father not taken the opportunity to scoop him into his arms.

 _Force_ , he wasn’t a child in need of carrying, he just needed a minute!

He swallowed his nausea down and struggled to escape his father’s grip, but Vader simply said “ _Sleep,_ " and Luke was fighting the heaviness of his eyelids.

“Not...fair…” he managed, trying to stay awake. 

It was useless. He was worn out already from fighting the cuffs several times, even with his nap.

Giving in, he settled into his father’s arms and mumbled, “Get Han and Leia and the droids…”

Then he knew no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when your dad, who you were trying to avoid, shows up. Tragic (for everyone else's plans, anyway).
> 
> Drop a comment if you enjoyed; they make my day!


End file.
